JPS6238881Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a boxing device for packaged products such as food.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, automated equipment has been widely used to sequentially pack packaged products having a predetermined planar size into boxes that are not significantly different in size from the product. This boxing device has a method in which the slide carrying the product is rapidly retreated to drop the product into a predetermined box. Not only is the packaging material disturbed by the movement of the slide plate, but the contents may also shift in the direction of the slide plate's retreat, and the product may fall slightly diagonally into the box, causing the contents to roll in the packaging material. Or, if the contents themselves are divided, there are problems such as misalignment between the divided pieces.
Although similar to the slide plate method described above, there is also a method in which the product is placed on a shuttle conveyor and the shuttle portion of the conveyor is rapidly retreated over the box to drop the product into the box. According to this method, the product must be above the top edge of the box by the thickness of the shuttle conveyor, which increases the falling distance of the product and increases the likelihood that the product will fall diagonally into the box. Not only will the vertical misalignment of the products that are sequentially deposited inside the box and the vertical misalignment between the divided pieces within each product become large, but if the size of the packaged product and the inner diameter of the box are not that different, the edge of the product will be There was a problem with the boxes falling when they were leaning against the sides of the box and not being packed properly into the box.
According to yet another method, while the box is being transported by a belt conveyor, another belt conveyor for feeding the product is inserted into the box, and the box and the product being transported by the latter belt conveyor are moved synchronously. On the other hand, this latter belt conveyor is pulled up as the box advances to prevent contact between the tip of the belt conveyor and the trailing edge of the box. In this method, the contents of the packaged product in the last row facing the belt conveyor are extremely slanted inside the box, and of course, the product piles up in the box or protrudes from the box. If the contents themselves are divided into upper and lower parts, there is a problem in that the vertical discrepancy becomes extremely large. There is a method that is slightly different from the above three methods, in which the packaged product is vacuum-suctioned and transferred to a box, but this method sucks up the packaging material and suspends the entire product, which may cause the contents to shift or Misalignment tends to occur, and the positions at which the products fall onto the box tend to be uneven, resulting in problems such as the product leaning against the sides of the box, which can lead to unbalanced piles.

The present invention embodies a new and improved boxing device that overcomes the drawbacks of the conventional method as described above and is capable of smoothly and quickly handling products that require careful packing. The apparatus according to the present invention is suitable for boxing products such as hamburger buns, in which a plurality of contents sliced into upper and lower halves are packaged together using a packaging material. When packing this type of product into a box, if the top and bottom slices are misaligned, the exposed parts that are not covered by the epidermis will become dry and the taste will deteriorate, so the packaging must be done in a gentle manner. Must be. Also, boxes suitable for transporting this type of product have only a slight difference in size compared to the product, and if they are packed out of alignment with each other, parts of the product may lean against the side of the box, or the contents may become misaligned. Summer products tend to pile up in disarray. The boxing device according to the invention makes it possible to box such seemingly difficult products "gently" and thus with high efficiency while uniformly maintaining perfect alignment.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings relating to its embodiments.

In Figures 1 and 2, for example, if the "product" is 12 to 24 hamburger buns sliced into upper and lower halves wrapped in plastic film, this product P is first transported from the packaging work department. Box B for packaging this product P on conveyor 1
is sent out directly above the conveyor 15 that conveys it in the direction of arrow F3. A reciprocating actuator 2 with a slide plate 3 pivoted at the end of a rod 4 is provided below the conveyor 1, and when the product P is discharged from the conveyor 1, the slide plate 3 is extended from below to move the product P. It is designed to be supported and sent into box B. The belt of the conveyor 1 is endlessly moved in the direction of arrow F1 by a driving roller 5, and the tension of the belt can be adjusted by an adjusting roller 6 as required. The operation of the slide plate 3 can be configured to start when a sensor 7 such as a photoelectric detector disposed at the front of the conveyor 1 detects the arrival of the product P. Second
In the figure, the slide plate 3 activated in this way is indicated by the arrow F2.
It protrudes into the box B in the direction, and the product P is on the top surface.
It shows the state where it is about to be loaded. The conveyor 15 operates an endless body such as a chain constantly or intermittently using a driving sprocket or roller 13, while the boxes B on the conveyor surface are stopped by a stopper 16 that moves back and forth with respect to the transfer path using an appropriate hydraulic cylinder 14. The object is moved and held temporarily in place.

Almost directly above the box B in FIG. , 11 (FIG. 3), respectively. As shown in FIG. 3, the mesh belt 12 is covered with the product P from above like a casting net by simultaneously operating the cylinders 10 and 11 when the slide plate 3 is fully inserted into the box B. In a case like this example in which the slide plate 3 is inserted diagonally into the box B, the mesh belt stopper member 17
It is particularly preferable that the mesh belt is suspended from the end of the rod 8 to receive the uneven distribution of the mesh belt, so that the locally heavy bellows-like tangled portion 12' is loaded at the rear end in the product feeding direction. In the state shown in FIG. 3, just before the cylinder 2 is activated and the slide plate 3 is rapidly moved backward, compressed air is ejected from the air nozzle 19, and the air nozzle 19 slides the jet nozzle at the tip of the belt conveyor 1. It is preferable that the sliding plate 20 is placed almost parallel to the plate 3, and the sliding plate/air flow guide plate 20 is held over the plate 3 in an eave shape so that the compressed air is ejected in the direction of the arrow F4. During operation of the air nozzle 19 shown in FIG. 3, if shallow vertical grooves g are arranged at approximately equal intervals on the top surface of the slide plate 3 as shown in FIG. The floating of the product P from the passing slide plate 3 can be made even more effective. In this way, with the flexible weight member 12 pressing down on the product P from the top and the above-mentioned flow of compressed air applying a lifting force from the bottom, the cylinder 2 operates to move the slide plate 3 in the direction indicated by the arrow F5. When the product P is rapidly moved backward in the direction of the
The weight member 12 lands directly on the product P from its front end, and as the degree of retreat of the slide plate 3, that is, the degree of separation from the lower surface of the product P increases, the length of the weight member 12 that directly loads the product P increases. When the slide plate 3 is completely retracted, the tangled portion 12' inside the box B is also extended, as shown in FIG. 5, and the weight member 12 presses the fallen product P against the bottom of the box. During the storage movement of the product P from FIG. 3 to FIG. Weighted member 12
Since the weight of the slide plate 12 is gradually applied as the slide plate 12 retreats (albeit in a very short period of time), the product P is placed in the box B in a manner that eliminates any impact during this storage movement. It is stored peacefully inside. Therefore, when the weighting member is subsequently pulled up in the direction of arrow F6 and the products P are stacked one after another in the box B, there is no vertical misalignment between the products, that is, unbalanced piles.
Furthermore, when this product P is divided into upper and lower halves, such as hamburger buns wrapped in packaging material, and is stacked one on top of the other, and a plurality of products are housed while maintaining each overlap, there may be a This makes it possible to package items in cushioned boxes without causing any misalignment.

When a predetermined number of products P are packed into each of the boxes B, the stopper member 16 is operated to release the feeding of the boxes B, and the packing of the subsequent boxes B is sequentially repeated from the situation shown in FIG. I can do it. thus,
According to the present invention, box packing can be automatically continued quickly, reliably, and while maintaining accurate alignment.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a side view of the embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partial side view of Fig. 1 showing a situation in which the product approaches the box, and Fig. 3 shows the load member just before the slide plate rapidly retreats. Fig. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a partial side view showing the hanging state; Fig. 5 shows the product being stored in the box after the slide plate has retreated completely. It is a partial side view which shows a state. 1...First conveyor, P...Product, B...Box, 15
...Second conveyor, 3...Slide plate, 12...Flexible weight member, 19...Air nozzle.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1. A first conveyor that conveys products, a second conveyor that conveys boxes containing the products, and a portion located below the first conveyor and at the discharge end of the conveyor. A slide plate installed to move forward and backward with respect to the box, and a flexible weighting member that presses the product from above when the slide plate retreats from the box, thereby suppressing the product in the box and the product. A product packaging device characterized by preventing mutual stacking and maintaining an aligned state. 2. The product packaging device according to claim 1, further comprising an air nozzle that blows out a stream of compressed air below the product on the slide plate to cushion the product from falling when the slide plate retreats from the box. A device featuring: 3. The product packaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flexible weighting member comprises a mesh belt whose both ends are suspended by actuating members that can be raised and lowered.